Im Jong-deok, Dinosaur Fossil Expert, Appointed as Director of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage

First Discovery of Pterosaur Wing Bone Fossil in South Korea

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on the 9th that Lim Jong-deok, a section chief at the Cultural Heritage Administration, has been appointed as the new director of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage.

He is a dinosaur fossil expert who discovered the first pterosaur wing bone fossil in Korea. He graduated from the Department of Biology at Sungkyunkwan University, earned a master's degree in Museology from the University of Nebraska, USA, and obtained a Ph.D. in Evolutionary and Ecological Biology from the University of Kansas. Afterwards, he worked as a research assistant, researcher, and visiting researcher at the Kansas State Museum of Natural History.

After returning to Korea, he served as a BK21 professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Seoul National University. In 2002, he joined the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (formerly the National Institute of Cultural Properties) as a curator and later held positions such as head of the Restoration Technology Research Office, head of the Conservation Science Research Office, and head of the Natural Cultural Heritage Research Office.

Based on his experience researching fossils such as Brachiosaurus and Triceratops in the United States, he has excavated numerous dinosaur fossils. He has named new species and published dozens of fossil research papers in international academic journals (SCI). He has also published science books for children, including "Kids, Let's Go Dinosaur Excavating."